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“We need to avoid a big disturbance in quadrant three, if possible,” Dante told her. “It looks like a massive planetoid-sized rock is crashing through the middle of the field and sending debris in all directions.”
“Okay, I’ll go wide, but it’s going to add on time. Can you take me as close as possible without getting in its way?”
Dante was an excellent copilot. Maybe the best she’d worked with in her life. His directions were clear and precise. She trusted everything he said without question. We clearly make a good team, she thought.
“We’ve got one coming hard and fast,” he warned.
She could see it. It looked like they were on a collision course. Her automatic reaction was to accelerate—and to dismiss the joke she wanted to make about “coming hard and fast.”
“No, we won’t make it!” Dante was right next to her. “We’ve gotta pull back.”
“I’ve got this,” replied Tinsley with grim determination written all over her face.
“Pull back! It’s not worth it,” Dante demanded.
“Who’s the captain here?” she hissed back at him, her jaw set.
It was close, as she knew it would be. At the last moment, she flicked the rudder sideways and rolled the ship, sending them into a spin.
“Shiiiitttt!” Dante’s knuckles were white as he tried to bury his fingers into the dashboard for purchase.
Their small transport vehicle was buffeted by the proximity of the large asteroid. Tinsley righted the Thunder Bolt and brought it out of the spin with one well-timed flick of her wrist on the controls.
She could hear Dante panting beside her. She turned to him and winked.
He let out a loud bellow of a laugh. “Damn, that was close!”
Tinsley just smiled. It had been a bit too close, but her maneuver had closed the distance between them and the pirates. “We have a visual,” she said, pointing out of the front viewport with satisfaction.
Another huge asteroid hurtled toward them, barely missing them. They were in the thick of the field now. The space debris ricocheted unpredictably around them, and Tinsley had to frustratingly lower her speed.
“We’ve got a massive one coming up behind us at high velocity,” Dante informed her, his eyes on the monitor. “You need to take evasive action fast.”
She swung the controls to the left, almost colliding with a smaller chunk of rock that sped past way too close for comfort.
The large projectile that had nearly rear-ended them hurtled past and hit another huge chunk head-on. The result of the impact was devastating. The huge chunks of rock exploded into millions of tiny fragments directly in front of them.
Tinsley did her best to take evasive action, but it was impossible to avoid all of the shrapnel as she flew straight through the center of the collision. Most were absorbed by the ship’s shields, but as they flew out of the other side, various emergency lights flashed on the dashboard.
On inspection, most of them were relatively unimportant. As with most spacecraft, this one could auto-repair light damage.
Tinsley felt reassured by this and relaxed back into flying. She’d slowed down a little after such a close call, but they were still visibly closing the gap.
Chapter 12
Dante was so fascinated by watching Tinsley work that he hardly even minded being her copilot anymore. Besides, he had to admit Tinsley had a much better handle on the Thunder Bolt than he would have. It was a Terran ship, after all, and she was a great captain.
The way she maneuvered the ship, dodging and weaving easily even at warp speeds, was like her hands were so sensitive, so attuned to everything the ship told her that she could almost intuit the right move without the slightest effort.
Dante grinned to himself as another thought came into his mind: she’s as good a captain as she is a lover. And for the same reasons.
Images of their preflight lovemaking were still fresh in his mind, and his body still thrummed with the latent pleasure. Exploring her body, having her explore his—if they didn’t have a mission, he’d be right back over there, undressing her again and letting his fingers and his mouth familiarize themselves with every inch of her.
He grinned over at Tinsley, letting his eyes linger on her lips, her neck, and her long curly hair as she rocketed toward the coordinates Dru had given them before they left. She caught his eye and smiled back, though she didn’t linger. She was deftly piloting the ship, after all.
The control panel before her blinked with the approximate location of the pirate ship, and Dante saw they were getting close. He thanked his lucky stars again he’d found a comms wizard like Dru to help, even if he wasn’t on board with them now.
“That’ll get you close. The instruments should be able to pick up their code from there,” Dru had told them.
